An architect of the plan to take Donald Trump’s media business public has been charged with insider trading after he allegedly shared information about the transaction during a trip to Las Vegas and helped two of his associates make $22.8mn from illicit trades.

Bruce Garelick, who sat on Digital World Acquisition Corporation’s board of directors, was arrested on Thursday along with brothers Michael Shvartsman and Gerald Shvartsman, on criminal charges brought by the US attorney in Manhattan, according to the prosecutor’s office. The Securities and Exchange Commission has also filed a civil claim against the three businessmen.

DWAC briefly became one of the best-performing companies on the stock market after announcing it would merge with Trump Media & Technology Group, which operates the former president’s Truth Social media platform with a mission to “cancel ‘cancel culture’ and stand up to Big Tech”.